People pedal their bicycles around the quiet Bölschestraße in the district of Friedrichshagen. Motorists are rarely seen along this road.
I wasn’t a big fan of bicycles. I didn’t even have one. But this unforgettable bicycle trip I took in Berlin made me fall in love with cycling. I wanted to buy one and begin commuting on a bicycle … but … wait a minute. I live in Jakarta, a city known for its merciless treatment of cyclists, which pales in comparison to the bicycle-friendly city of Berlin.
I was amazed at how much Berlin respected its cyclists. In fact, most of Europe’s big cities show this respect by providing decent bicycle tracks in the city.
But Berlin, a city of 3.5 million people, offers more. And I begun to understand why cycling is the best way to explore this city. While traffic congestion is rare in Berlin, the city also has traffic lights for bikers to help them navigate the roads and avoid colliding with motorists. The best thing about Berlin is that motorists here always respect pedestrian and bikers.
Also, metro subways and commuter trains provide dedicated spaces for bicycles. And with easy connections throughout the city and its suburbs, as well as its cheap tickets, the city’s transportation network provides more incentives for Berliners not to buy cars. Its railway network is one of the best in Europe.
The ease with which I experienced Berlin reminded me of the pledge made by Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo to build bicycle lanes if the number of cyclists there reached 1 million. To me, this sounded ridiculous. How could we have 1 million cyclists if we didn’t have any bicycle lanes yet? And getting hit by a motorcycle for sharing their lanes does not sound like a good idea to me.
And realizing that I may not be able to experience cycling in Jakarta for the rest of my life, and convinced by the fact that cyclists always rang their bells at me every time they passed by me on Berlin’s sidewalks, I made the decision to take a bicycle tour during my stay in Berlin.
It was in late September. Summer was almost gone but the weather was quite alright. The temperature hovered at between 10 and 15 degrees Celcius during the day, making cycling quite bearable.
An acquaintance I met in Berlin agreed to lend me her bike, which solved my problem of not wanting to shell out ¤10 per day to rent one.
I did not want to go alone so I persuaded a Ugandan friend to join me. He agreed to join me after an acquaintance agreed to lend him a bike.
People bring their bicycles aboard a train. They are going to have a bike tour around Müggelsee lake.
My Berlin friend once again came to the rescue when I was at a loss about where to go in Berlin. She showed us a map of Berlin and we then decided that the most scenic route would be from Berlin to Müggelsee Lake in the Southeastern suburbs of the city.
Berlin has so many lakes, but “the most beautiful” title goes to Müggelsee. This 7.4-square-kilometer lake is also the largest in Berlin, and during winter it transforms into the city’s largest ice rink.
We expected to have a memorable trip to the lake and, as it turned out, it was indeed memorable.
The map said the 26-kilometer route would take us around two hours to complete.
We began our trip on Sunday at 11 a.m. We left our apartment in Iranische Straße, a densely populated residential area in Northern Berlin, cycling to a subway station in Franz-Neumann-Platz.
We bought a single trip ticket for ¤2.8 from a ticket machine. This kind of ticket is applicable for any mode of public transportation, be it subway, train, tram or bus, within a two-hour period from the time of purchase.
Well, we already got the ¤6.50 one-day tickets and all we needed was to buy bicycle tickets for ¤1 each. We bought the bicycle tickets despite the fact we were fully aware that train conductors — who rarely showed up — cared more about passenger tickets than bicycle fares.
From the station, we took the U-Bahn subway, route U8, to reach Alexander-platz. On weekends, a train leaves every 15 minutes as opposed to once every five minutes on weekdays.
Alexander-platz is a square that doubles as the main transport hub in Berlin’s center. We transferred to an S-Bahn train, route S3, at this station.
The station has three underground and one elevated levels. Because the U8 stopped at the bottom level, while S-Bahn play an elevated rail prompted to carry our bicycles to climb three stairs and one escalator. “Consider this a warm-up for our cycling,” said my Ugandan friend, panting.
The S3 train took us to Friedrichshagen, which was place where the map suggested we should start cycling. We met two other adults and two children who were also about to depart for Müggelsee on their bicycles.
At 1.20 p.m., we arrived at Friedrichshagen’s small station. We took a 25-minute ride along the pavement of Bölschestraße, a quite city full of old buildings, suggesting that this was the end of metropolitan Berlin.
A boat is seen near two villas located at the Southern shore of Müggelsee lake. Visitors can rent boats or kayak for fishing or just going around the lake.
Road signs helped us a lot. We crossed the tree-lined Müggelpark to reach a place where we could enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the lake.
The hush of the wind and chirping birds greeted us. We felt pacified from the fresh air and the mild temperature.
After paking our bicycles, we joined a small number of other visitors there to enjoy the scenery. Swans and ducks swam toward us as if they were welcoming us.
A man takes his bicycle down the Friedrichshagen station. Small railway stations in Berlin normally are not equipped with escalators.
From the northern shore of the lake we could see a narrow strip of woodland at the other side. We could also see several sailing boats and lake ferries in the distance.
We then headed down an 8.5-meter-deep and 120-meter-long tunnel called the Spreetunnel. Built in 1926, this tunnel helps pedestrians and bikers cross the Müggelspree River, the lake’s main inflow, to reach the forest on the Western shore of the lake.
At the other end of the tunnel we found ourselves lost in the woods, but thanks to a map that a friend had given me — and the ubiquitous signs — we could easily decide which path to take.
We cycled into the forest where we saw birds and heard their chirping. I was lucky enough to hear the knocking of a woodpecker.
A sign prompted us to turn left to a major road where we met many other bikers and joggers.
It turned out that the path we took was the European Cycle Route R1. This is the famous bicycle route that runs across Europe connecting nine countries in the continent. We relished the fact that our tour was part of a 3,500-kilometer route.
While pedaling on, we notice on the left side of our path a throng of sharply dressed people gathered at the beach. We later learned that they were part of a congregation attending a baptism. Two women were being baptized by the lake only 20 meters from the shore. We could hear them chanting “Hallelujah, Hallelujah”. We felt lucky at being able to catch a glimpse of the ceremony.
We were starting to get tired when we spotted a more sizable sandy beach with a gorgeous view. We later learned (during a search online) that the place is a famous nudist beach. However, that day we only encountered a few teenagers who were fully clothed. Summer was over, I was thinking to myself.
We continued our trip and along the way we saw a privately owned beaches, that were fenced off from the general public.
The humble Glein Schwalbenberg cafe, situated at the bank of the Dämeritzsee lake, offers cheap drinks, meals and refreshment.
Next, we passed two historic restaurants, the Rübezahl and Müggelseeperle. We were on a strict budget so stopping at these restaurants was impossible. We decided to just have coffees while relaxing at a small café called Glein Schwalbenberg.
The café came highly recommended by a friendly German couple we met when we lost our way and they stopped to help us translate our map.
We had a small talk and they looked surprised when we introduced ourselves.
Several bicycles are parked beside a paved-road while the bikers relax at the Glein Schwalbenberg coffee shop.
“We have been living in this town for years, but we don’t see people from Asia and Africa very often. I hope you enjoy your tour,” one of them said in fluent English.
We cycled more for about 15 kilometers to reach a spot called Holzbrücke, a wooden bridge from which there is a beautiful view. Next to the bridge is the modest Glein Schwalbenberg.
We spent less than ¤10 on two cappuccinos, a slice of cheese cake and a portion of bread with sausages.
It was almost 4 p.m. We decided to continue our trip to Erkner, our final stop.
After passing through a quiet rural residential area, we finally reached Erkner station at around 5 p.m. and boarded the S3 train back to Alexander-platz.
We may have been exhausted from the trip but we were satisfied with what we saw. The next day I left Germany for Jakarta with a big smile. Tschüs, Berlin!
— Photos by Bagus BT Saragih
